Tag Archives: Exercise

I keep track of all my workouts in fitocracy. If you would like to join fitocracy and view my workouts there, here’s the link to my page. If not, I’ve included them here. My workouts for the first half of March:

I keep track of all my workouts in fitocracy. If you would like to join fitocracy and view my workouts there, here’s the link to my page. If not, I’ve included them here. This month was pretty weak in terms of lifting, I was focusing on running more because of the up-coming half-marathon. My workouts for the second half of February:

I keep track of all my workouts in fitocracy. If you would like to join fitocracy and view my workouts there, here’s the link to my page. If not, I’ve included them here. My workouts for the first half of February:

I keep track of all my workouts in fitocracy. If you would like to join fitocracy and view my workouts there, here’s the link to my page. If not, I’ve included them here. My workouts for the second half of January:

Some of these are repeats from last year: Chainmail, No Sugar, Exercise, Photography, and Reading. For the Chainmail month, I am going to focus more on learning patterns rather than weaving a specific piece. No Sugar is fairly the same as 2012, I just want to put it in again this year to keep my occasional sweet tooth in check. I am not sure yet what form my Exercise goals will take, but I know that this year will include running and weight lifting! Photography and Reading will be similar to last year, but I will try different things in both.

For the new goals, I will talk about those as the months come to pass. I am pretty excited about some of the new goals this year. Most of the goals this year will allow me to have more time, since last year had me traveling all over to go to festivals and for running and I also spent a lot of time in the kitchen and recipe researching.

As far as an overall, year-long fitness goal, I’m going to do something a little different. I want to spend more time lifting weights, but I don’t want to lose the cardio fitness that I’ve worked hard to build-up. There are running goal ideas all over the internet, last year I ran 530 miles and really only started putting up some serious mileage (more than 3-4 mi per run) in mid-July. I think that this year I can double that! I am going to try to make it to 1,000 miles in 2013! That means that I need to average about 20 mi/week over the year, not taking into account races and the training thereof. I am going to cut back on the races I enter, as that becomes expensive over time! I spent a lot in 2012 on registration, gas, clothes/equipment, and, in the case of the marathon, food and hotel. This year, I would still like to run at least one half-marathon and one marathon. I have also already (back in Sept.) signed up to run the Spartan Sprint, which I am planning that to be my only obstacle course run for the year.

For my weightlifting goals, I really want to get stronger. That is a vague “goal” so I am going to put numbers to that. I’ve previously discussed my adoration for fitocracy. One of their features is the “Achievements” badges, which are awarded whenever you hit certain fitness milestones. For strength exercises, their achievements are awarded:

Back when I didn’t really know how to properly, and safely, perform an squat, I “achieved” the 80% badge. I backed off on the weight, corrected my form, and am building back up. So, this year, I want to get as many of these achievements as I can. My specific goals are:

BB Squat – 100% BW
BB Deadlift – 150% BW
BB Bench Press – 75% BW

I also love doing shoulder presses, and will continue to do that exercise, but I am not going to make a specific goal for that exercise. I’ve been training specifically with the barbell, but every now and then I’ll jump on the dumbbells for Bench Press and Shoulder Press to see where I am in those achievements. I’ll up date a couple times a month with my progress and post any personal records I set and if I hit any achievements.

Running and strength goals, am I biting off more than I can chew? We shall see!

I also had an overall fitness goal for the year: participate in a running or cycling race every month.

My best months for sticking to my plan were: January (Cleaning), February (Blogging), May (No Sugar), June (Reading), August (Snappy Dressed), and November (Ethnic Dinners). For the most part, I was able to complete each weekly and the overall month’s goal for those months. My favorite months were March (Festivals), May (No Sugar), October (Photography), and November (Ethnic Dinners).

Yeah, I was surprised that I liked May’s goal. I thought it would be hard, but once I decided to cut out sugar, it was almost easy to turn it down. My cravings for sugar have been pretty low the last couple months and when I do crave something sweet, I can satisfy it with some fruit.

Months that I didn’t meet my goal: March (Festivals), July (No Processed Foods), and December (Sewing). I missed a couple of festival weekends in March due to weather and a party. I didn’t get a chance to make one of the things I wanted to try out for July and I didn’t sew ANYTHING in December due to all the holiday madness.

My overall fitness goal for the year turned out great! I didn’t end up doing any cycling races, but I did run a race every month. I ran five 5Ks, three Mud/Obstacle Course runs (generally 5Ks), one 8K, one 10.2K, one half-marathon (13.1 mi), and one marathon (26.2 mi)! I’m pretty proud of myself and am looking forward to next year.